<p>We never put anything on our cars UNTIL D bought all 4 of us license plate holders after she and S had graduated. Fortunately, they both went to same U, so the holders were just for that U. Hers indicated her college (cinema) and the one she bought S indicated his (engineering). Ours just say parents of alums from that U. If the kids hadn’t bought the holders, we wouldn’t have put anything on the cars. We did get static cling decals, which we put on our patio window (which no one sees but prevents the birds from flying into the window) and also bought some clothing that has U on it, which we do wear.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine not celebrating all the achievements in the family. I’ve even put bumper stickers on for the dog. My golden is a proud honors graduate of Kennelwood Academy!</p>
<p>I love decorating cars. If my kids wouldn’t kill me I’d turn into one of those people with the whole backside plastered with bumper stickers and window decals. </p>
<p>Seems like the OP has left the building…</p>
<p>“Husband and I never had had a bumper sticker.”</p>
<p>No bumper stickers here either! </p>
<p>Any chance this dislike of the southern school’s sticker has a rational basis? Does the only available sticker incorporate the Confederate flag or something equally egregious?</p>
<p>Seriously?! It’s 2014, not 1858.</p>
<p>And if that were the reason, wouldn’t the OP have said so?</p>
<p>Oh for goodness sake…I have never seen a college bumper sticker with that on it, anywhere. </p>
<p>It is possible that the OP has younger kids. He’s asking about his college age kids. He may even have older kids too.
True or not, the topic has resulted in some good advice. The OP probably has heard what he needs to. </p>
<p>I was willing to consider other explanations. Some cars have window tinting and stickers are not visible unless they are placed permanently on the outside, while other stickers are easily peeled off and removable. Some people use car magnets rather than mess up the car with stickers. Like calmom said, some kids simply haven’t bought or provided the stickers as of yet. </p>
<p>Personally, I would do either all or none, but would never jump to the kind of conclusions that some people suggest if I happened to see a car that did not represent all the kids in a family. </p>
<p>However, OP suggests that it is, after all, all about appearances! If he knows that, I’m sure the kid has a sense of it, too. If that’s true, I’d suggest he has bigger problems than a car sticker. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t be surprised if there were unofficial stickers with the confederate battle flag. But there is no school for which the only available sticker includes that. And I seriously doubt any include it on any official licensed anything. </p>
<p>I live in the South, but I will admit that I also live under a rock sometimes. However, I can’t recall ever seeing a college sticker with a Confederate flag. Maybe they existed before such things were on my radar. </p>
<p>How could she do this? Ummmm. Not nice.</p>
<p>I put a cling for my D’s school on my car and she was tickled; that’s why you do it (if you have a child like that). I already had S’s school on my car when he decided to attend my alma mater (On Wisconsin, again! 
). My H has D’s instate rival school’s sticker on his car for purely sports reasons, and because everyone in this town is crazy about said sports, and it gets her goat and she thinks it’s hilarious. We’re all good :)</p>
<p>I have both children’s undergrad clings in my back window. D graduated in 2008 and S graduated this year. Because I know how long I keep a car, I spent a long time centering them, making them look good! I knew they’d be there ten (or more) years.
I think OP’s wife should go with all or none - just my opinion. My son would say it didn’t bother him if I didn’t have his, but it really would. </p>
<p>Competitive with whom? </p>
<p>Maybe the stickers should rotate. A different one each month. </p>
<p>I’m the fourth kid, and this happened in my family! Mom added all my sisters’ college stickers in their turn, but when it came to me, she drew the line. It was for the exact opposite reason: she thought the brand name was so fancy that it was embarrassingly ostentatious to have the name on the car. (My sisters went to Wesleyan, Barnard, and Brown, so not exactly Whoville State, but she felt Harvard was a whole different ball of wax in terms of brand recognition.) In other words, she was as concerned about her image as someone who rejects an Arkansas sticker, but had different ideas about what the image ought to be: intellectual, but understated.</p>
<p>I have no idea if the OP’s story is true, but I don’t find it implausible.</p>
<p>I agree that it should be all or nothing. Don’t know if any of my sibs or their kids have U stickers on their cars–will have to pay more attention, but honestly it doesn’t matter much to me. Our folks didn’t put stickers from any of our Us (undergrad or grad) on their cars–it would have been very crowded with the 7 of us. 
H & I hadn’t meant to put anything on our cars, but since our kids wanted it and bought the license plate holders, we let them install them.</p>
<p>This brings to mind a story that a co-worker told me. His two children went to fancy private high schools, and applied to fancy private colleges. The first child got into Stanford. The second child failed to get into any ivy league schools: he got into Georgetown. My co-worker’s wife took to bed for a week due to depression.</p>
<p>Regarding this thread - if it is fake, it’s kind of hilarious, someone pegging College Confidential as a place where this caricature could dwell. If it’s real, it’s just yuck, I need to take a shower. And I feel for the third kid. Although, he’s probably been subject to this previously.</p>
<p><<<
first child got into Stanford. The second child failed to get into any ivy league schools: he got into Georgetown. My co-worker’s wife took to bed for a week due to depression.
<<<</p>
<p>That co-worker has his hands full if he’s married to someone who’d have that kind of reaction. Seriously, this isn’t likely the worst of what he’s been dealing with. That’s a big ole red flag that she’s a nightmare. </p>
<p>But, the fact that there are people who are so wrapped up into the idea that their self-worth is tied to a child attending a super-elite undergrad makes the OP’s story more plausible. What I find funny is that often the same people who are so caught up with the idea that their kids must go to an ivy school are the same people who themselves don’t have the smarts to have ever gone to one themselves. There recently was a child here on CC posting that his parents were so disappointed in his SAT scores (something around 2200) because he wouldn’t likely get into an ivy. The poor kid was feeling depressed about his very good scores. I would bet that his parents wouldn’t have scored nearly that high. </p>
<p>There are definitely people who view college admissions as a referendum on their parenting. </p>
<p>The implausibility of this story has more to do with the OP’s conflicting information between this and other threads, and the fact that he has not elaborated at all on his wife’s motivation. All he said is “she’s just very competitive”–not anything about her concern (or lack thereof) for her third child.</p>